I spent Thanksgiving with a pack of soggy reindeer. This was my second holiday at the Timberview Farm east of Springfield, which is owned by my sister's boyfriend's parents. It was raining when we left Portland around 11 and it was still raining when we got back to town.

I was hoping to take several cheery photos of the farm's herd like I did last year. Here's the thing though: reindeer aren't big on rain. Rather than trotting around merrily, they were all huddled in their pen, gloomily gazing out at the storm. Can reindeer sigh? Maybe, but all I heard was the occasional grunt.

I was thinking to myself a few minutes ago, "What could make these photos even less Christmas-y?" The answer was obvious: use Photoshop to convert them to black and white. Ta-da!

Timberview's reindeer are show animals and they spend the month of December making appearances at shopping centers and other locations throughout the state. They'll be at Beaverton Town Square this Sunday, December 13th, from 10 - 5. Two of the more common questions their owners are asked at these events:

Q: Do reindeer really exist?

Many people remain convinced that these guys are actually caribou and that reindeer are fictional. I'm still confused, myself. As Wikipedia would have it, "caribou" is a term that only applies to wild reindeer found in North America.

Q: What do they eat?

The answer...

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